McIlroy pushing workout limits, Wozniacki says

McIlroy pushing workout limits, Wozniacki says

Rory McIlroy has been known for his penchant to hit the gym with vigor. Now it’s confirmed by his girlfriend, professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.

Golf might not require the speed or physical exertion that tennis does, but that doesn’t keep McIlroy from pushing the limits of his workouts – and Wozniacki’s, for that matter.

”Even in my offseason,” she told the Associated Press recently. “I’m like, ‘Can you just rest for a second? I don’t want to see the gym. I don’t want to hear about the gym. I don’t want to go run. I just want to relax.”

”He’s like, ‘No, but let’s just go to the gym.’ But it’s good fun.”

It isn’t the first time McIlroy’s conditioning has come up for discussion. Two years ago at Doral, he took some ribbing when he dropped a dumbbell and injured a toe. Weeks later at Augusta, he credited his fitness regimen for helping him overcome back problems that had given him trouble: “If I’m not in the range or the gym, I don’t know where I am,” he said. And last fall, noted golf instructor Mike Malaska held up McIlroy as an example and said that serious workouts aren’t as important as a swing that fits the body.

Wozniacki says McIlroy wasn’t always the one pushing the limits of their conditioning. Recalling their first joint workout, Wozniacki said she floated the idea of 25 minutes of running in Monaco and then hitting the gym together.

”It was quite hot out there. After 15 minutes I could really see he was struggling out there,” she said – adding that she likes to sometimes remind McIlroy of the story. ”He didn’t make it.”

But the couple’s ability to maintain their motivation to stay in their best shape is a plus.

“It’s great that we can motivate each other,” Wozniacki said. “It’s great that we can do so many things together.”

In fact, it even pulls the tennis star onto the practice range at times.

”It goes well for a while,” she said. ”Then once it starts going downhill I take a little break and watch him hit some balls. I think, `That looks easy.’ I take a water and then I go back at it, and then I need a few pointers from his coach or caddy. It’s a frustrating game, but I really enjoy it.”

By the way, Wozniacki echoed McIlroy’s recent comments that rumors of the two possibly breaking up aren’t true, and that the couple are doing just fine: “‘Everything on that front is great,” she said.

In fact, she added, they plan to get together next week in Miami, where the WTA Sony Open will take place – and take in a daily run together.